EMS services to be on Fayette County, Jefferson Township ballots

Sunday

Voters in Fayette County face two May primary election issues for emergency medical services: one countywide, the other in a township that encompasses Tanger Outlets in Jeffersonville.

If both levies pass, Jefferson Township residents would have double EMS coverage and could pay twice for it.

The township of about 2,600, swells to about 14,000 with daytime visitors. It is served by Fayette County Memorial Hospital EMS, a rare county-operated system based in Washington Court House that has struggled financially. The township has an average response time of 12½ minutes. The national average is 7 minutes.

"I think a heart attack that happens in Washington Court House is just as serious as one that happens in Jefferson Township," said Ryan Yenger, a Jefferson Township trustee. "No one should have to wait 15 or 16 minutes."

Fayette County EMS serves 12 townships, including Jefferson. Response times for several of the smaller townships exceed 14 minutes, records show.

Jefferson Township had 337 emergency runs last year, about 8 percent of the county's total of 4,120 runs, according to county records.

That's why the township has placed a 5-mill continuing levy on the May 8 ballot. The $700,000 it would generate annually would create a 24/7 township EMS service, including new vehicles and living quarters at its lone fire station. It would cost property owners about $275 per $100,000 of valuation annually.

The countywide levy is 1.3 mills for 3 years to raise about $1 million annually. It would cost property owners about $45 per $100,000 of property value.

Fayette County sought an opinion from the Ohio Attorney General's office to determine the consequences if voters approve both issues.

The April 6 Attorney General's opinion states that the county and township could form a joint EMS district, a separate legal entity, that could exempt township residents from paying the countywide tax. But the county would have the discretion to do so. If both levies fail, the county-operated hospital EMS would continue serving all Fayette residents.

Yenger said he has asked the county for full-time staffing for Jefferson's single ambulance, currently operated by about eight EMS-trained volunteers. The response was discouraging.

"I'd love to be able to put a manned station there, but it costs money," said Rod List, chief of the Fayette County Memorial Hospital EMS.

His budget is $1.2 million annually and requires about $600,000 in subsidies from the county's general fund.

"If it doesn't pass, the conversation is going to go back to the commissioners," List said of the county measure. "We're solvent for the year. We're not just going to stop operations."

He added: "We've been operating since 1976, and we've never had public (levy) tax support."

About two years ago, county commissioners began to ask townships and villages to chip in to cover the rising costs of efficient EMS service.

Jefferson said it was willing, but wanted assurance that its coverage and response times would improve.

Yenger calls the county levy a "Band-Aid" fix.

"Why would you throw money at something that has been (financially) mismanaged in the past?" he asked.

Yenger cited a 2005 policy memo stating that patients be taken to the Washington Court House hospital, even though Miami Valley Hospital Jamestown Emergency Center is closer for many township residents. He suspects the hospital did it for financial reasons.

In some cases, he added, "had there not been a volunteer to jump into the squad, and (patients) had to wait for someone to come from Washington Court House, they would not have made it."

It's true that many smaller, standalone hospitals face financial struggles, but that policy has been changed, said Mike Diener, who has been CEO of Fayette Memorial hospital for less than two years. About a third of township patients were taken to Miami Valley last year, he said.

"If that's your strategy for revenue enhancement and growth, it's a pretty poor strategy," he said of the previous policy. "You want people to come because they trust your facility, not because they were coerced by an ambulance driver."

dnarciso@dispatch.com

@DeanNarciso

Never miss a story

Choose the plan that's right for you.
Digital access or digital and print delivery.